site.btaBulgarian Chess Federation 2022 to Appeal Arbitration Ruling

The Bulgarian Chess Federation 2022 (BCF 2022) will appeal a decision of the Court of Arbitration for Sport  in Lausanne before a federal court in Switzerland. The Court did not admit for consideration a complaint by BCF 2022 due to procedural reasons but confirmed that the application by BCF 2022 for membership of the International Chess Federation (FIDE) had not been considered according to the required high standards and that the omission to discuss the application by FIDE General Assembly violated the right of the organization to appeal the dismissal of its candidacy.

“Attempts to suggest that the decision of the Court in Lausanne is final are far from the truth and run counter to the principles of law, as there is a deadline for bringing the case to a federal court in Switzerland and the BCF 2022 will take advantage of this in the coming days. We know that the right is on our side and we’ll defend the interests of Bulgarian chess,” said BCF 2022 Managing Board in a statement on Wednesday.

BFC 2022, a Bulgarian chess federation licensed by the Ministry of Youth and Sports, filed a complaint against the decision of FIDE to accept a rival organization in Bulgaria as its member. The domestic competitions are currently administered by the BCF 2022, which is licensed by the Sports Ministry. However, the Bulgarian teams in international competitions are selected by the Bulgarian Sports Chess Federation (BSCF) , as it is Bulgaria’s representative in the International Chess Federation (FIDE).

Earlier, it recalled: "The Bulgarian Chess Federation 2022 was the first to submit its application for membership in FIDE and was unlawfully excluded literally at the last moment from the agenda of the FIDE General Assembly, two days before the assembly itself. Only the candidacy of the Bulgarian Sports Chess Federation, which does not have a national license, was considered at the meeting.”

In November 2023, a Bulgarian national team took part in a tournament under the auspices of the European Chess Union (ECU) for the first time in 10 years. After a long period of power struggle in Bulgarian chess during which five organizations were claiming the position of controlling body of the game in the country, BSCF was recognized by ECU and FIDE as the legitimate representative of Bulgarian chess with the right to nominate Bulgarian national teams to participate in the world, European and Olympic championships under their auspices.